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BirdNote Daily

Escape the daily grind and immerse yourself in the natural world. Rich in imagery, sound, and information, BirdNote inspires you to notice the world around you.

science natural sciences

All Episodes

00:01:45

California Quail, Up and Running

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/05/01

The most distinctive characteristic of the California Quail is the black, forward-facing topknot that juts out from its forehead like a small flag. The California Quail – the state bird of California – builds its nest right on the ground. Almost immediately after hatching, the precocial chicks are up and running, following their parents to feed. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other

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00:01:35

How Much Birds Sing

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/30

A typical songbird belts out its song between 1,000 and 2,500 times per day. Even though most bird songs last only a few seconds, that's a lot of warbling! A Yellowhammer, a European bunting, may sing over 3,000 times a day. But the Yellowhammer doesn't even come close to the North American record-holder, this Red-eyed Vireo. One such vireo delivered its song over 22,000 times in ten hours!More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for

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00:01:45

Thirsty Rufous Hummingbird

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/29

Hummingbirds need to consume five times their body weight each day. This Rufous Hummingbird of the West is looking for flowering plants to quench that mighty thirst on its spring migration. A feeder would work, too. Put a hummingbird feeder up in your yard, and see who turns up!More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these

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00:01:32

Delhi’s Jain Bird Hospital is Free

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/28

At Charity Birds Hospital, a small staff takes care of approximately twenty-six hundred birds at a time, providing antibiotics, medicine, food, and a safe place to rest for injured or sick birds. The hospital is run entirely on donations, mostly from the Jain community, which follows the philosophy, “live and let live.”More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a

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00:01:45

The Plover and the Hurricane

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/27

Piping Plovers are tiny, sand-colored shorebirds that nest on the beach. They’re threatened in much of their range. But plovers have gotten a boost from something rather surprising: hurricanes. Superstorm Sandy left behind plant-free, sandy beaches on barrier islands in New York and New Jersey, which actually offers better camouflage for nesting plovers. Where these hurricane-created habitats were protected, Piping Plovers have boomed.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote

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00:08:06

Sean Hill on Nature, Place, and Black Life

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/26

Poet Sean Hill performs three poems that encapsulate his dynamic relationship to birds, travel and life as a Black wanderer in the great outdoors. First is The Western Tanager or Why Montana, a villanelle reflecting on why people choose a home. Then, In Houston examines the intimacy of quiet moments and the surprising sounds that can be heard when we really listen. And finally, Silas Fishing 1967 shows how connecting with even small moments in nature can have a transformational effect.More info and

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00:01:45

A Lost Hummingbird is Found Again

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/25

The Santa Marta Sabrewing is a hummingbird species so rare, they’ve only been documented twice in recent years. Native to the mountains of Colombia, they were officially described in 1946. No one reported another sighting until 2010. They became a “lost” species, eluding every attempt to find them. Then in 2022, Yurgen Vega was studying the birds of a mountain range called the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. He snapped a photo of an unusual, large hummingbird – and the sabrewing was lost no more. More

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00:01:31

White-throated Swifts

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/24

A pair of White-throated Swifts twists and turns, sailing through the air. Dashing headlong across the canyon toward an unyielding wall, the birds disappear at the last second into a slender crevice. This swift is aptly named — and doubly so. The White-throated Swift is among the fastest of all birds. And its lyrical, scientific name suits it perfectly: Aeronautes saxatalis - sailor of the air who dwells in the rocks.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our

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00:01:45

The Early Bird

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/23

We've all heard that the early bird gets the worm. But research shows that birds dining early and heavily may lower their life expectancy. Socially dominant birds stay lean (and agile at avoiding predators) during the day, and then stoke up later, before a cold night. Subordinate birds have to look for food whenever and wherever they can find it, and carry fat on their bodies to hedge against unpredictable rations.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly

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00:01:45

The Legendary Phoenix

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/22

The ancient Greeks and Egyptians described a mythical bird called the Phoenix, a magnificent creature that was a symbol of renewal and rebirth. According to legend, each Phoenix lived for 500 years, and only one Phoenix lived at a time. Just before its time was up, the Phoenix built a nest and set itself on fire. Then, a new Phoenix would rise from the ashes.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free

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00:01:45

What’s a Field of Grass to a Bird?

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/21

Although a field of grass might not seem like valuable habitat at first, many birds have adapted to nest in grassland habitats and nowhere else. In North America, birds such as the Bobolink seek out grasslands to raise their young, deftly hiding their nests within the dense vegetation. Very few grasslands and savannas have been protected compared to the area that’s been lost, making them the most at-risk ecosystem on the planet. That means every acre of grassland remaining is even more precious — to

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00:01:37

House Wrens and Dummy Nests

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/20

There may be no busier bird during the nesting season than a male House Wren. Just a day or so after completing his spring migration from the tropics, the male House Wren claims a territory and checks out several potential nest cavities. And in each of these locations, he builds a starter nest using virtually anything twig-like to get the job done — from nails and bits of wire to paper clips and hairpins. The male House Wren stays at it until a female pairs with him. Then she picks one of the

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00:01:41

Raising the World’s Deadliest Bird

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/19

You might think the first bird species that humans raised in captivity would be a relatively small one, like a chicken. But evidence suggests that people in New Guinea reared the cassowary, often called the world’s deadliest bird, as much as 18,000 years ago, long before the domestication of chickens. The remains of cassowary eggs and bones at archaeological sites in New Guinea indicate that people gathered the eggs, possibly allowing the more mature eggs to hatch into chicks.More info and

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00:01:41

Spring Migration Across the Globe

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/18

Each spring, millions of birds head north. From Ecuador, beautiful Scarlet Tanagers fly to the eastern US and Canada, many traversing the Gulf of Mexico, an arduous journey. Across much of southern Europe, Common Nightingales – small thrushes with russet feathers – are arriving, having traveled northward from Africa across immense deserts. In northern Asia, petite songbirds known as Siberian Rubythroats — like this one — are arriving en masse, some winging their way across the South China Sea from

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00:01:45

Great-tailed Grackle

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/17

Great-tailed Grackles live up to their name. The glossy black males trail their long, V-shaped tails behind them as they fly, almost like a plane towing a banner ad. And while not quite as flashy, the brown-feathered females have impressively long tails, too. Also known as the Mexican Grackle, this species lives in all sorts of habitats from the northern coasts of South America to the western U.S. Their ability to live in both cities and farmland has helped Great-tailed Grackles expand as far north

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00:01:41

Brewer’s Sparrow, Sagelands Singer

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/16

One of the most musical and complex bird songs in the US is that of the Brewer's Sparrow. It's a veritable aria, ringing forth from the sagebrush of Eastern Washington's Columbia Basin. Shrub-steppe is disappearing from the interior west as it is cleared for irrigated crops. The quintessential drylands bird, the Brewer's Sparrow can survive for an extended period of time with no supplemental water, getting all the water it needs from seeds and arthropods.More info and transcript at

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00:01:45

Recycle Your Eggshells to Help Nesting Birds

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/15

Female birds need to eat calcium to have enough of the mineral to lay their eggs. But it can be hard to find enough of it to eat in nature. We can help our backyard birds by offering them some extra calcium in bird feeders and by recycling our used egg shells.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

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00:01:27

The Eagle Eye

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/14

Ever heard the term “eagle eye”? An eagle’s vision is incredibly sharp, and its eyes can weigh more than its brain. The secret to the bird’s exceptional vision is the density of visual cells – the rods and cones – of its retina.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

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00:01:45

Magpies Help Each Other Remove Tracking Devices

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/13

Tracking birds can be tricky — even with GPS technology. Around 70% of bird species are just too small to carry a GPS battery. But recently, Australian scientists developed GPS trackers that looked like little backpacks, weighed less than a gram, could charge wirelessly and could be quickly released with a magnet. When the researchers tested the trackers on Australian Magpies, though, the birds managed to pinpoint a tiny weak spot in the backpack and helped each other peck the trackers off. This

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00:03:19

Stefania Gomez - Swifts

BirdNote Daily ·

2023/04/12

Each September, thousands of Vaux's Swifts roost in the chimney of Chapman Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, a stopover on their southern migration. Crowds gather every night to watch the spectacle. As a celebration of Poetry Month in the US, we offer this poem, Swifts, by Stefania Gomez.You can read more of Stefania's work in her book, Once I Loved a Cowboy.This interview originally aired in April 2020.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly

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1,678 results

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